Building your Personal Brand

Does posting online actually get an investor better deals? Nicole DeTommaso, Principal at Harlem Capital and author of the VC Demystified newsletter, and Jivraj Singh Sachar, founder of the Indian Silicon Valley podcast and its affiliated fund, both built substantial audiences from a standing start. They agreed on almost everything, including the part most people get wrong.

Be known for one thing before you expand. Nicole tested five content pillars, posting twice a day at fixed times, before narrowing to a single lane: demystifying venture for people trying to break in. That narrowness is exactly what made the audience stick, because people knew what to come to her for.

Consistency compounds before reach does. Jivraj's podcast started on Zoom calls during the pandemic with no expectations. He prioritised depth of conversation over download counts early on and treated consistency itself as the compounding variable. Two hundred episodes later, that is the asset that mattered.

Content does not win more deals. It wins better ones. Both were explicit that publishing rarely increases the raw volume of deals an investor sees, but it materially improves win rate on competitive rounds through simple recall when a founder is choosing between term sheets.

A false sense of closeness. Nicole's phrase for what media does to an audience. A founder who has read your writing for months arrives at the first call feeling they already know you, which shortens the trust building period considerably.

Content as proof of thesis. Harlem Capital's strategy grew partly out of necessity, proving to sceptical LPs that their target market of diverse founders was genuinely investable rather than a mission statement.

Personalise before you pitch. Nicole's favourite piece of cold outreach closed by offering to explain, in person, how the founder had once met the Queen of England. Specific, memorable, and impossible to send as a template.

Compliance anxiety is not a reason to stay silent. Both pushed back on younger investors at larger firms who assume they cannot post. Engaging thoughtfully on other people's content, before ever sending a cold message, is a low risk way to start.

• Nicole DeTommaso, Principal, Harlem Capital.
• Jivraj Singh Sachar, Founder, Indian Silicon Valley podcast and Indian Silicon Valley Capital.

This session was part of the IndianVCs Venture Summit, three days of conversations with more than twenty investors and allocators on LP fundraising, portfolio support, and the tools reshaping how funds operate. The full set of recordings lives on our YouTube channel.

Strip away the tactics and one rule survives. Pick the narrowest lane you can defend, then show up in it often enough that the right founder already trusts you before you have met.